Trump EPA expected to roll back auto gas mileage standards

DETROIT (AP) — The Trump administration is expected to announce soon that it will roll back automobile gas mileage and pollution standards that were a pillar in the Obama administration’s plans to combat climate change.

It’s not clear whether the announcement will include a specific number, but current regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency require the fleet of new vehicles to get 36 miles per gallon in real-world driving by 2025. That’s about 10 mpg over the existing standard.

Environmental groups, who predict increased greenhouse gas emissions and more gasoline consumption if the standards are relaxed, say the announcement could come Tuesday at a Virginia car dealership. An EPA spokeswoman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Any change is likely to set up a legal showdown with California, which currently has the power to set its own pollution and gas mileage standards and doesn’t want them to change. About a dozen other states follow California’s rules, and together they account for more than one-third of the cars sold in the U.S.

Automakers have lobbied to revisit the requirements, saying they’ll have trouble reaching them because people are buying bigger vehicles due to low gas prices. They say the standards will cost the industry billions of dollars and raise vehicle prices due to the cost of developing technology needed to raise mileage.

But environmental groups say people will save money at the pump, and the technology is available for the industry to comply.

They also say burning more gasoline will put people’s health at risk.

“The American public overwhelmingly supports strong vehicle standards because they cut the cost of driving, reduce air pollution, and combat climate change. Backing off now is irresponsible and unwarranted,” said Luke Tonachel, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Clean Vehicles and Fuels Project.

The EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are involved in setting the standards, which would cover the years 2022 through 2025.

Dimitry

BOB

Robert E Lee

“God forbid we take care of our planet.” Really Dimitry? Don’t be a sheeple! Yeah cause are cars are destroying it right? You’ve been brain washed Dimitry. With a name like that its no surprise you fall in line with progressive (or American communist) rules. Progressivism is a disease that needs to be eradicated. just like communism. Climate change as you progressives like to call it now is not man caused. Man has only been tracking this info for a little over a hundred years. Come on you know about the ice ages, and the warm periods, when we had dinosaurs, and when we had woolly mammoths. What about all the scientists that now admit they have been faking the numbers and making fake graphs to scare everyone. We also know what a big lie AL Gores book was. Come on Dimitry think for yourself.